The premiers of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia have agreed to make it easier for people moving between the provinces to license their cars or continue apprenticeships.

The decision was made by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Alberta Premier Alison Redford and B.C. Premier Christy Clark in a conference call Thursday for a meeting of what they call the « New West Partnership. » The premiers have also agreed that apprentices in the skilled trades will be able to move without having to start their training all over again.

Wall quoted Sarah Watts-Rynard, executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, who said Canada has 13 different apprenticeship systems. When an apprentice loses his or her job in one part of the country, it can be difficult to transfer employment hours and levels of training to another region where there is a higher demand, he read.

« You know that’s probably dumb for Canada to have that kind of a system, especially when we have a labour shortage in parts of the country, especially in the trades, » said Wall.

« And so we three…the New West Partnership premiers, are going to direct our ministers to harmonize these apprenticeship initiatives across the West, to do by September 2014. It’s an aggressive target, but that’s the one we’ve set. » The premiers say that will be better for employers that operate in more than one province and will allow Western provinces to more easily share training resources.